The original Maritime Junior A Hockey League was a Canadian

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

league from 1968 until 1971 in the provinces of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. The league competed for the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

until 1970 when it was relegated to Tier II Junior A and then competed one year for the

Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of Junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey. It consists of a ten-team ...

before becoming defunct.

History

Founded in 1968, the MJAHL was meant to be the Atlantic answer to the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

and Western Canada Junior Hockey League. In 1970, when Junior A was split into Major Junior A and Tier II Junior A, the MJAHL was found on the Tier II side of things. The league lost interest without

eligibility and folded in 1971, right after the

Charlottetown Islanders The Charlottetown Islanders are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are members of the Maritimes Division, and play their home games at the ...

came within two games of claiming the

1971 Centennial Cup The 1971 Centennial Cup is the first Tier II Junior "A" 1971 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League. The Centennial Cup was competed for by the winners of the Western Canadian Champions and the Eastern Canadian C ...

. The creation of the league spawned competition in 1969 with the creation of the New Brunswick Junior Hockey League. Other leagues filled the gap of the league when it folded: the

Island Junior Hockey League (1973–1991) The Island Junior Hockey League (IJHL), also sometimes called the PEI Junior A Hockey League, was a Junior ice hockey league in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Originally Junior B, the league was promoted to Junior A in 1973 after the folding of ...

in 1973 and the

Metro Valley Junior Hockey League The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) is a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior A ice hockey league under Hockey Canada, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It consists of six teams from New Brunswick, which make up the EastLink ...

in 1977. In 1991, the

Maritime Junior A Hockey League The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league under Hockey Canada, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It consists of six teams from New Brunswick, which make up the EastLink North Division (formerly R ...

was created through the merger of the aforementioned NBJHL, IJHL, and MVJHL as the NBJHL and MVJHL merged in 1983 and the IJHL joined the fold in 1991 to reconsolidate Maritime Junior A. Of the team that played in the Original MJAHL, only the Moncton Beavers still exist under the name

Edmundston Blizzard The Edmundston Blizzard are a junior ice hockey team from Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada. They play in the Maritime Junior Hockey League. History Moncton Beavers and also as Richview Junior Canucks and Moncton Hawks were members in the now d ...

in the current

MJAHL The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league under Hockey Canada, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It consists of six teams from New Brunswick, which make up the EastLink North Division (formerly R ...

Teams

* Cape Breton Metros * Charlottetown Islanders * Dartmouth Lakers * Halifax Atlantics/Canadiens * Moncton Beavers

Champions

*1969 Halifax Canadiens *1970 Charlottetown Islanders *1971 Charlottetown Islanders

National Playdowns

*1969 Halifax Canadiens ''Lost

Eastern Quarter-final'' ::Hull Beavers ( CJHL) defeated Halifax Canadiens ''4-games-to-3'' in East Mem Cup Quarter-final *1970 Charlottetown Islanders ''Lost Memorial Cup Eastern Semi-final'' ::Charlottetown Islanders defeated Fredericton Chevies ( NBJHL) ''3-games-to-1'' in Atlantic Final ::Charlottetown Islanders defeated

Ottawa M&W Rangers The Rockland Nationals (French: ''National de Rockland''), colloquially known as the Nats, are a Junior A ice hockey team based in Rockland, Ontario. The Nationals compete in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) as a member of the East Divisio ...

( CJHL) ''4-games-to-1'' in East Mem Cup Quarter-final ::

Quebec Remparts The Quebec Remparts () are a Canadian junior ice hockey based in Quebec City, Quebec. The team plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and is named after the Ramparts of Quebec City (). There have been two franchises name ...

(

QMJHL The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

) defeated Charlottetown Islanders ''4-games-to-2'' in East Mem Cup Semi-final *1971 Charlottetown Islanders ''Won Hewitt-Dudley Memorial Trophy, Lost

Manitoba Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It consists of a ten-team round robin featuring the ...

Final'' ::Charlottetown Islanders defeated

Moncton Hawks The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the Mon ...

( NBJHL) ''4-games-to-none'' in East QF ::Charlottetown Islanders defeated

Thunder Bay Marrs The Port Arthur Marrs were a junior ice hockey team that played in Port Arthur, Ontario (now part of the city of Thunder Bay). They were named for trucking company and sponsor W.H. Marr, Ltd., and contested the 1967 Memorial Cup, which they lost t ...

(

TBJHL The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League (TBJHL) was a Canadian junior ice hockey league that existed from c. 1920 to 1980. The TBJHL operated in Northwestern Ontario, primarily in the Thunder Bay region. The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League was ...

) ''4-games-to-1'' in East SF ::Charlottetown Islanders defeated Detroit Jr. Red Wings ( SOJHL) ''4-games-to-2'' in East Final (Wins HDMT) ::

Red Deer Rustlers The Red Deer Rustlers were a Junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League based in Red Deer, Alberta. They captured the inaugural Centennial Trophy in 1971. Their eight AJHL championships remains the second most in league history ...

(

AJHL The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 t ...

) defeated Charlottetown Islanders ''4-games-to-2'' in Centennial Cup Final

External links

Current MJAHL Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritime Junior A Hockey League (1968-1971) Maritime Junior Hockey League Defunct ice hockey leagues in Prince Edward Island Defunct ice hockey leagues in Nova Scotia Defunct ice hockey leagues in New Brunswick 1968–69 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1969–70 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1970–71 in Canadian ice hockey by league